La Vergne man punched by police to appear in court

MURFREESBORO – A La Vergne man accusing police of beating him during his May 24 arrest is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on charges of public intoxication and assault.

Mario Ticas was arrested by officers with the La Vergne Police Department after they recieved a complaint about a fight in the parking lot of an apartment complex, said La Vergne Police Chief Mike Walker. During his arrest, Ticas was struck by Sgt. John Eubank and Officer Louis Powell, who told superiors Ticas assaulted them.

Ivan Lopez, Ticas’ Nashville-based attorney, said Ticas was not involved in the fight the officers were responding to and maintains that his client cooperated with police during the arrest. Cell phone video and surveillance footage seem to show officers punching Ticas in the face while he is pinned to the ground.

There may be more to the story than what the videos show, Walker said. An internal affairs investigation was conducted, and Walker said he hopes to release the findings of the probe after Ticas appears in court.

Walker said he cannot release the findings of the investigation until he receives approval from District Attorney General Bill Whitesell. Whitesell, who is set to retire later this year, has not responded to The Daily News Journal’s questions about when that information will be available.

Details about the internal investigation need to be kept under wraps because they overlap with the police department's criminal investigation concerning Ticas' arrest, Walker said.

The DNJ submitted an open records request to obtain Eubank and Powell's personnel records, but LPD Sgt. Bob Hayes denied the request, saying the files were part of the department's investigation. The documents could only be released with DA Whitesell's permission, Hayes added.

Both officers have clean records, Walker said.

Christopher Merchant can be contacted at cmerchant@tnmedia.com and 615-278-5109. Follow him on Twitter @merchant_tweets.